Lev 17-26

The Slaughtering of Animals
1The Lord spoke to Moses:2Speak to Aaron and his sons and to all the people of Israel and say to them: This is what the Lord has commanded.3If anyone of the house of Israel slaughters an ox or a lamb or a goat in the camp, or slaughters it outside the camp,4and does not bring it to the entrance of the tent of meeting, to present it as an offering to the Lord before the tabernacle of the Lord, he shall be held guilty of bloodshed; he has shed blood, and he shall be cut off from the people.5This is in order that the people of Israel may bring their sacrifices that they offer in the open field, that they may bring them to the Lord, to the priest at the entrance of the tent of meeting, and offer them as sacrifices of well-being to the Lord.6The priest shall dash the blood against the altar of the Lord at the entrance of the tent of meeting, and turn the fat into smoke as a pleasing odor to the Lord,7so that they may no longer offer their sacrifices for goat-demons, to whom they prostitute themselves. This shall be a statute forever to them throughout their generations.8And say to them further: Anyone of the house of Israel or of the aliens who reside among them who offers a burnt offering or sacrifice,9and does not bring it to the entrance of the tent of meeting, to sacrifice it to the Lord, shall be cut off from the people.Eating Blood Prohibited
10If anyone of the house of Israel or of the aliens who reside among them eats any blood, I will set my face against that person who eats blood, and will cut that person off from the people.11For the life of the flesh is in the blood; and I have given it to you for making atonement for your lives on the altar; for, as life, it is the blood that makes atonement.12Therefore I have said to the people of Israel: No person among you shall eat blood, nor shall any alien who resides among you eat blood.13And anyone of the people of Israel, or of the aliens who reside among them, who hunts down an animal or bird that may be eaten shall pour out its blood and cover it with earth.14For the life of every creature—its blood is its life; therefore I have said to the people of Israel: You shall not eat the blood of any creature, for the life of every creature is its blood; whoever eats it shall be cut off.15All persons, citizens or aliens, who eat what dies of itself or what has been torn by wild animals, shall wash their clothes, and bathe themselves in water, and be unclean until the evening; then they shall be clean.16But if they do not wash themselves or bathe their body, they shall bear their guilt.Chapter 18Sexual Relations
1The Lord spoke to Moses, saying:2Speak to the people of Israel and say to them: I am the Lord your God.3You shall not do as they do in the land of Egypt, where you lived, and you shall not do as they do in the land of Canaan, to which I am bringing you. You shall not follow their statutes.4My ordinances you shall observe and my statutes you shall keep, following them: I am the Lord your God.5You shall keep my statutes and my ordinances; by doing so one shall live: I am the Lord.6None of you shall approach anyone near of kin to uncover nakedness: I am the Lord.7You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father, which is the nakedness of your mother; she is your mother, you shall not uncover her nakedness.8You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father's wife; it is the nakedness of your father.9You shall not uncover the nakedness of your sister, your father's daughter or your mother's daughter, whether born at home or born abroad.10You shall not uncover the nakedness of your son's daughter or of your daughter's daughter, for their nakedness is your own nakedness.11You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father's wife's daughter, begotten by your father, since she is your sister.12You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father's sister; she is your father's flesh.13You shall not uncover the nakedness of your mother's sister, for she is your mother's flesh.14You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father's brother, that is, you shall not approach his wife; she is your aunt.15You shall not uncover the nakedness of your daughter-in-law: she is your son's wife; you shall not uncover her nakedness.16You shall not uncover the nakedness of your brother's wife; it is your brother's nakedness.17You shall not uncover the nakedness of a woman and her daughter, and you shall not take her son's daughter or her daughter's daughter to uncover her nakedness; they are your flesh; it is depravity.18And you shall not take a woman as a rival to her sister, uncovering her nakedness while her sister is still alive.19You shall not approach a woman to uncover her nakedness while she is in her menstrual uncleanness.20You shall not have sexual relations with your kinsman's wife, and defile yourself with her.21You shall not give any of your offspring to sacrifice them to Molech, and so profane the name of your God: I am the Lord.22You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination.23You shall not have sexual relations with any animal and defile yourself with it, nor shall any woman give herself to an animal to have sexual relations with it: it is perversion.24Do not defile yourselves in any of these ways, for by all these practices the nations I am casting out before you have defiled themselves.25Thus the land became defiled; and I punished it for its iniquity, and the land vomited out its inhabitants.26But you shall keep my statutes and my ordinances and commit none of these abominations, either the citizen or the alien who resides among you27(for the inhabitants of the land, who were before you, committed all of these abominations, and the land became defiled);28otherwise the land will vomit you out for defiling it, as it vomited out the nation that was before you.29For whoever commits any of these abominations shall be cut off from their people.30So keep my charge not to commit any of these abominations that were done before you, and not to defile yourselves by them: I am the Lord your God.Chapter 19Ritual and Moral Holiness
1The Lord spoke to Moses, saying:2Speak to all the congregation of the people of Israel and say to them: You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.3You shall each revere your mother and father, and you shall keep my sabbaths: I am the Lord your God.4Do not turn to idols or make cast images for yourselves: I am the Lord your God.5When you offer a sacrifice of well-being to the Lord, offer it in such a way that it is acceptable on your behalf.6It shall be eaten on the same day you offer it, or on the next day; and anything left over until the third day shall be consumed in fire.7If it is eaten at all on the third day, it is an abomination; it will not be acceptable.8All who eat it shall be subject to punishment, because they have profaned what is holy to the Lord; and any such person shall be cut off from the people.9When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap to the very edges of your field, or gather the gleanings of your harvest.10You shall not strip your vineyard bare, or gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard; you shall leave them for the poor and the alien: I am the Lord your God.11You shall not steal; you shall not deal falsely; and you shall not lie to one another.12And you shall not swear falsely by my name, profaning the name of your God: I am the Lord.13You shall not defraud your neighbor; you shall not steal; and you shall not keep for yourself the wages of a laborer until morning.14You shall not revile the deaf or put a stumbling block before the blind; you shall fear your God: I am the Lord.15You shall not render an unjust judgment; you shall not be partial to the poor or defer to the great: with justice you shall judge your neighbor.16You shall not go around as a slanderer among your people, and you shall not profit by the blood of your neighbor: I am the Lord.17You shall not hate in your heart anyone of your kin; you shall reprove your neighbor, or you will incur guilt yourself.18You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against any of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.19You shall keep my statutes. You shall not let your animals breed with a different kind; you shall not sow your field with two kinds of seed; nor shall you put on a garment made of two different materials.20If a man has sexual relations with a woman who is a slave, designated for another man but not ransomed or given her freedom, an inquiry shall be held. They shall not be put to death, since she has not been freed;21but he shall bring a guilt offering for himself to the Lord, at the entrance of the tent of meeting, a ram as guilt offering.22And the priest shall make atonement for him with the ram of guilt offering before the Lord for his sin that he committed; and the sin he committed shall be forgiven him.23When you come into the land and plant all kinds of trees for food, then you shall regard their fruit as forbidden; three years it shall be forbidden to you, it must not be eaten.24In the fourth year all their fruit shall be set apart for rejoicing in the Lord.25But in the fifth year you may eat of their fruit, that their yield may be increased for you: I am the Lord your God.26You shall not eat anything with its blood. You shall not practice augury or witchcraft.27You shall not round off the hair on your temples or mar the edges of your beard.28You shall not make any gashes in your flesh for the dead or tattoo any marks upon you: I am the Lord.29Do not profane your daughter by making her a prostitute, that the land not become prostituted and full of depravity.30You shall keep my sabbaths and reverence my sanctuary: I am the Lord.31Do not turn to mediums or wizards; do not seek them out, to be defiled by them: I am the Lord your God.32You shall rise before the aged, and defer to the old; and you shall fear your God: I am the Lord.33When an alien resides with you in your land, you shall not oppress the alien.34The alien who resides with you shall be to you as the citizen among you; you shall love the alien as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.35You shall not cheat in measuring length, weight, or quantity.36You shall have honest balances, honest weights, an honest ephah, and an honest hin: I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt.37You shall keep all my statutes and all my ordinances, and observe them: I am the Lord.Chapter 20Penalties for Violations of Holiness
1The Lord spoke to Moses, saying:2Say further to the people of Israel:
Any of the people of Israel, or of the aliens who reside in Israel, who give any of their offspring to Molech shall be put to death; the people of the land shall stone them to death.3I myself will set my face against them, and will cut them off from the people, because they have given of their offspring to Molech, defiling my sanctuary and profaning my holy name.4And if the people of the land should ever close their eyes to them, when they give of their offspring to Molech, and do not put them to death,5I myself will set my face against them and against their family, and will cut them off from among their people, them and all who follow them in prostituting themselves to Molech.6If any turn to mediums and wizards, prostituting themselves to them, I will set my face against them, and will cut them off from the people.7Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy; for I am the Lord your God.8Keep my statutes, and observe them; I am the Lord; I sanctify you.9All who curse father or mother shall be put to death; having cursed father or mother, their blood is upon them.10If a man commits adultery with the wife of his neighbor, both the adulterer and the adulteress shall be put to death.11The man who lies with his father's wife has uncovered his father's nakedness; both of them shall be put to death; their blood is upon them.12If a man lies with his daughter-in-law, both of them shall be put to death; they have committed perversion, their blood is upon them.13If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall be put to death; their blood is upon them.14If a man takes a wife and her mother also, it is depravity; they shall be burned to death, both he and they, that there may be no depravity among you.15If a man has sexual relations with an animal, he shall be put to death; and you shall kill the animal.16If a woman approaches any animal and has sexual relations with it, you shall kill the woman and the animal; they shall be put to death, their blood is upon them.17If a man takes his sister, a daughter of his father or a daughter of his mother, and sees her nakedness, and she sees his nakedness, it is a disgrace, and they shall be cut off in the sight of their people; he has uncovered his sister's nakedness, he shall be subject to punishment.18If a man lies with a woman having her sickness and uncovers her nakedness, he has laid bare her flow and she has laid bare her flow of blood; both of them shall be cut off from their people.19You shall not uncover the nakedness of your mother's sister or of your father's sister, for that is to lay bare one's own flesh; they shall be subject to punishment.20If a man lies with his uncle's wife, he has uncovered his uncle's nakedness; they shall be subject to punishment; they shall die childless.21If a man takes his brother's wife, it is impurity; he has uncovered his brother's nakedness; they shall be childless.22You shall keep all my statutes and all my ordinances, and observe them, so that the land to which I bring you to settle in may not vomit you out.23You shall not follow the practices of the nation that I am driving out before you. Because they did all these things, I abhorred them.24But I have said to you: You shall inherit their land, and I will give it to you to possess, a land flowing with milk and honey. I am the Lord your God; I have separated you from the peoples.25You shall therefore make a distinction between the clean animal and the unclean, and between the unclean bird and the clean; you shall not bring abomination on yourselves by animal or by bird or by anything with which the ground teems, which I have set apart for you to hold unclean.26You shall be holy to me; for I the Lord am holy, and I have separated you from the other peoples to be mine.27A man or a woman who is a medium or a wizard shall be put to death; they shall be stoned to death, their blood is upon them.Chapter 21The Holiness of Priests
1The Lord said to Moses: Speak to the priests, the sons of Aaron, and say to them:
No one shall defile himself for a dead person among his relatives,2except for his nearest kin: his mother, his father, his son, his daughter, his brother;3likewise, for a virgin sister, close to him because she has had no husband, he may defile himself for her.4But he shall not defile himself as a husband among his people and so profane himself.5They shall not make bald spots upon their heads, or shave off the edges of their beards, or make any gashes in their flesh.6They shall be holy to their God, and not profane the name of their God; for they offer the Lord's offerings by fire, the food of their God; therefore they shall be holy.7They shall not marry a prostitute or a woman who has been defiled; neither shall they marry a woman divorced from her husband. For they are holy to their God,8and you shall treat them as holy, since they offer the food of your God; they shall be holy to you, for I the Lord, I who sanctify you, am holy.9When the daughter of a priest profanes herself through prostitution, she profanes her father; she shall be burned to death.10The priest who is exalted above his fellows, on whose head the anointing oil has been poured and who has been consecrated to wear the vestments, shall not dishevel his hair, nor tear his vestments.11He shall not go where there is a dead body; he shall not defile himself even for his father or mother.12He shall not go outside the sanctuary and thus profane the sanctuary of his God; for the consecration of the anointing oil of his God is upon him: I am the Lord.13He shall marry only a woman who is a virgin.14A widow, or a divorced woman, or a woman who has been defiled, a prostitute, these he shall not marry. He shall marry a virgin of his own kin,15that he may not profane his offspring among his kin; for I am the Lord; I sanctify him.16The Lord spoke to Moses, saying:17Speak to Aaron and say: No one of your offspring throughout their generations who has a blemish may approach to offer the food of his God.18For no one who has a blemish shall draw near, one who is blind or lame, or one who has a mutilated face or a limb too long,19or one who has a broken foot or a broken hand,20or a hunchback, or a dwarf, or a man with a blemish in his eyes or an itching disease or scabs or crushed testicles.21No descendant of Aaron the priest who has a blemish shall come near to offer the Lord's offerings by fire; since he has a blemish, he shall not come near to offer the food of his God.22He may eat the food of his God, of the most holy as well as of the holy.23But he shall not come near the curtain or approach the altar, because he has a blemish, that he may not profane my sanctuaries; for I am the Lord; I sanctify them.24Thus Moses spoke to Aaron and to his sons and to all the people of Israel.Chapter 22The Use of Holy Offerings
1The Lord spoke to Moses, saying:2Direct Aaron and his sons to deal carefully with the sacred donations of the people of Israel, which they dedicate to me, so that they may not profane my holy name; I am the Lord.3Say to them: If anyone among all your offspring throughout your generations comes near the sacred donations, which the people of Israel dedicate to the Lord, while he is in a state of uncleanness, that person shall be cut off from my presence: I am the Lord.4No one of Aaron's offspring who has a leprous disease or suffers a discharge may eat of the sacred donations until he is clean. Whoever touches anything made unclean by a corpse or a man who has had an emission of semen,5and whoever touches any swarming thing by which he may be made unclean or any human being by whom he may be made unclean—whatever his uncleanness may be—6the person who touches any such shall be unclean until evening and shall not eat of the sacred donations unless he has washed his body in water.7When the sun sets he shall be clean; and afterward he may eat of the sacred donations, for they are his food.8That which died or was torn by wild animals he shall not eat, becoming unclean by it: I am the Lord.9They shall keep my charge, so that they may not incur guilt and die in the sanctuary for having profaned it: I am the Lord; I sanctify them.10No lay person shall eat of the sacred donations. No bound or hired servant of the priest shall eat of the sacred donations;11but if a priest acquires anyone by purchase, the person may eat of them; and those that are born in his house may eat of his food.12If a priest's daughter marries a layman, she shall not eat of the offering of the sacred donations;13but if a priest's daughter is widowed or divorced, without offspring, and returns to her father's house, as in her youth, she may eat of her father's food. No lay person shall eat of it.14If a man eats of the sacred donation unintentionally, he shall add one-fifth of its value to it, and give the sacred donation to the priest.15No one shall profane the sacred donations of the people of Israel, which they offer to the Lord,16causing them to bear guilt requiring a guilt offering, by eating their sacred donations: for I am the Lord; I sanctify them.Acceptable Offerings
17The Lord spoke to Moses, saying:18Speak to Aaron and his sons and all the people of Israel and say to them: When anyone of the house of Israel or of the aliens residing in Israel presents an offering, whether in payment of a vow or as a freewill offering that is offered to the Lord as a burnt offering,19to be acceptable in your behalf it shall be a male without blemish, of the cattle or the sheep or the goats.20You shall not offer anything that has a blemish, for it will not be acceptable in your behalf.21When anyone offers a sacrifice of well-being to the Lord, in fulfillment of a vow or as a freewill offering, from the herd or from the flock, to be acceptable it must be perfect; there shall be no blemish in it.22Anything blind, or injured, or maimed, or having a discharge or an itch or scabs—these you shall not offer to the Lord or put any of them on the altar as offerings by fire to the Lord.23An ox or a lamb that has a limb too long or too short you may present for a freewill offering; but it will not be accepted for a vow.24Any animal that has its testicles bruised or crushed or torn or cut, you shall not offer to the Lord; such you shall not do within your land,25nor shall you accept any such animals from a foreigner to offer as food to your God; since they are mutilated, with a blemish in them, they shall not be accepted in your behalf.26The Lord spoke to Moses, saying:27When an ox or a sheep or a goat is born, it shall remain seven days with its mother, and from the eighth day on it shall be acceptable as the Lord's offering by fire.28But you shall not slaughter, from the herd or the flock, an animal with its young on the same day.29When you sacrifice a thanksgiving offering to the Lord, you shall sacrifice it so that it may be acceptable in your behalf.30It shall be eaten on the same day; you shall not leave any of it until morning: I am the Lord.31Thus you shall keep my commandments and observe them: I am the Lord.32You shall not profane my holy name, that I may be sanctified among the people of Israel: I am the Lord; I sanctify you,33I who brought you out of the land of Egypt to be your God: I am the Lord.Chapter 23Appointed Festivals
1The Lord spoke to Moses, saying:2Speak to the people of Israel and say to them: These are the appointed festivals of the Lord that you shall proclaim as holy convocations, my appointed festivals.The Sabbath, Passover, and Unleavened Bread
3Six days shall work be done; but the seventh day is a sabbath of complete rest, a holy convocation; you shall do no work: it is a sabbath to the Lord throughout your settlements.4These are the appointed festivals of the Lord, the holy convocations, which you shall celebrate at the time appointed for them.5In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, at twilight, there shall be a passover offering to the Lord,6and on the fifteenth day of the same month is the festival of unleavened bread to the Lord; seven days you shall eat unleavened bread.7On the first day you shall have a holy convocation; you shall not work at your occupations.8For seven days you shall present the Lord's offerings by fire; on the seventh day there shall be a holy convocation: you shall not work at your occupations.The Offering of First Fruits
9The Lord spoke to Moses:10Speak to the people of Israel and say to them: When you enter the land that I am giving you and you reap its harvest, you shall bring the sheaf of the first fruits of your harvest to the priest.11He shall raise the sheaf before the Lord, that you may find acceptance; on the day after the sabbath the priest shall raise it.12On the day when you raise the sheaf, you shall offer a lamb a year old, without blemish, as a burnt offering to the Lord.13And the grain offering with it shall be two-tenths of an ephah of choice flour mixed with oil, an offering by fire of pleasing odor to the Lord; and the drink offering with it shall be of wine, one-fourth of a hin.14You shall eat no bread or parched grain or fresh ears until that very day, until you have brought the offering of your God: it is a statute forever throughout your generations in all your settlements.The Festival of Weeks
15And from the day after the sabbath, from the day on which you bring the sheaf of the elevation offering, you shall count off seven weeks; they shall be complete.16You shall count until the day after the seventh sabbath, fifty days; then you shall present an offering of new grain to the Lord.17You shall bring from your settlements two loaves of bread as an elevation offering, each made of two-tenths of an ephah; they shall be of choice flour, baked with leaven, as first fruits to the Lord.18You shall present with the bread seven lambs a year old without blemish, one young bull, and two rams; they shall be a burnt offering to the Lord, along with their grain offering and their drink offerings, an offering by fire of pleasing odor to the Lord.19You shall also offer one male goat for a sin offering, and two male lambs a year old as a sacrifice of well-being.20The priest shall raise them with the bread of the first fruits as an elevation offering before the Lord, together with the two lambs; they shall be holy to the Lord for the priest.21On that same day you shall make proclamation; you shall hold a holy convocation; you shall not work at your occupations. This is a statute forever in all your settlements throughout your generations.22When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap to the very edges of your field, or gather the gleanings of your harvest; you shall leave them for the poor and for the alien: I am the Lord your God.The Festival of Trumpets
23The Lord spoke to Moses, saying:24Speak to the people of Israel, saying: In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall observe a day of complete rest, a holy convocation commemorated with trumpet blasts.25You shall not work at your occupations; and you shall present the Lord's offering by fire.The Day of Atonement
26The Lord spoke to Moses, saying:27Now, the tenth day of this seventh month is the day of atonement; it shall be a holy convocation for you: you shall deny yourselves and present the Lord's offering by fire;28and you shall do no work during that entire day; for it is a day of atonement, to make atonement on your behalf before the Lord your God.29For anyone who does not practice self-denial during that entire day shall be cut off from the people.30And anyone who does any work during that entire day, such a one I will destroy from the midst of the people.31You shall do no work: it is a statute forever throughout your generations in all your settlements.32It shall be to you a sabbath of complete rest, and you shall deny yourselves; on the ninth day of the month at evening, from evening to evening you shall keep your sabbath.The Festival of Booths
33The Lord spoke to Moses, saying:34Speak to the people of Israel, saying: On the fifteenth day of this seventh month, and lasting seven days, there shall be the festival of booths to the Lord.35The first day shall be a holy convocation; you shall not work at your occupations.36Seven days you shall present the Lord's offerings by fire; on the eighth day you shall observe a holy convocation and present the Lord's offerings by fire; it is a solemn assembly; you shall not work at your occupations.37These are the appointed festivals of the Lord, which you shall celebrate as times of holy convocation, for presenting to the Lord offerings by fire—burnt offerings and grain offerings, sacrifices and drink offerings, each on its proper day—38apart from the sabbaths of the Lord, and apart from your gifts, and apart from all your votive offerings, and apart from all your freewill offerings, which you give to the Lord.39Now, the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the produce of the land, you shall keep the festival of the Lord, lasting seven days; a complete rest on the first day, and a complete rest on the eighth day.40On the first day you shall take the fruit of majestic trees, branches of palm trees, boughs of leafy trees, and willows of the brook; and you shall rejoice before the Lord your God for seven days.41You shall keep it as a festival to the Lord seven days in the year; you shall keep it in the seventh month as a statute forever throughout your generations.42You shall live in booths for seven days; all that are citizens in Israel shall live in booths,43so that your generations may know that I made the people of Israel live in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.44Thus Moses declared to the people of Israel the appointed festivals of the Lord.Chapter 24The Lamp
1The Lord spoke to Moses, saying:2Command the people of Israel to bring you pure oil of beaten olives for the lamp, that a light may be kept burning regularly.3Aaron shall set it up in the tent of meeting, outside the curtain of the covenant, to burn from evening to morning before the Lord regularly; it shall be a statute forever throughout your generations.4He shall set up the lamps on the lampstand of pure gold before the Lord regularly.The Bread for the Tabernacle
5You shall take choice flour, and bake twelve loaves of it; two-tenths of an ephah shall be in each loaf.6You shall place them in two rows, six in a row, on the table of pure gold.7You shall put pure frankincense with each row, to be a token offering for the bread, as an offering by fire to the Lord.8Every sabbath day Aaron shall set them in order before the Lord regularly as a commitment of the people of Israel, as a covenant forever.9They shall be for Aaron and his descendants, who shall eat them in a holy place, for they are most holy portions for him from the offerings by fire to the Lord, a perpetual due.Blasphemy and Its Punishment
10A man whose mother was an Israelite and whose father was an Egyptian came out among the people of Israel; and the Israelite woman's son and a certain Israelite began fighting in the camp.11The Israelite woman's son blasphemed the Name in a curse. And they brought him to Moses—now his mother's name was Shelomith, daughter of Dibri, of the tribe of Dan—12and they put him in custody, until the decision of the Lord should be made clear to them.13The Lord said to Moses, saying:14Take the blasphemer outside the camp; and let all who were within hearing lay their hands on his head, and let the whole congregation stone him.15And speak to the people of Israel, saying: Anyone who curses God shall bear the sin.16One who blasphemes the name of the Lord shall be put to death; the whole congregation shall stone the blasphemer. Aliens as well as citizens, when they blaspheme the Name, shall be put to death.17Anyone who kills a human being shall be put to death.18Anyone who kills an animal shall make restitution for it, life for life.19Anyone who maims another shall suffer the same injury in return:20fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth; the injury inflicted is the injury to be suffered.21One who kills an animal shall make restitution for it; but one who kills a human being shall be put to death.22You shall have one law for the alien and for the citizen: for I am the Lord your God.23Moses spoke thus to the people of Israel; and they took the blasphemer outside the camp, and stoned him to death. The people of Israel did as the Lord had commanded Moses.Chapter 25The Sabbatical Year
1The Lord spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai, saying:2Speak to the people of Israel and say to them: When you enter the land that I am giving you, the land shall observe a sabbath for the Lord.3Six years you shall sow your field, and six years you shall prune your vineyard, and gather in their yield;4but in the seventh year there shall be a sabbath of complete rest for the land, a sabbath for the Lord: you shall not sow your field or prune your vineyard.5You shall not reap the aftergrowth of your harvest or gather the grapes of your unpruned vine: it shall be a year of complete rest for the land.6You may eat what the land yields during its sabbath—you, your male and female slaves, your hired and your bound laborers who live with you;7for your livestock also, and for the wild animals in your land all its yield shall be for food.The Year of Jubilee
8You shall count off seven weeks of years, seven times seven years, so that the period of seven weeks of years gives forty-nine years.9Then you shall have the trumpet sounded loud; on the tenth day of the seventh month—on the day of atonement—you shall have the trumpet sounded throughout all your land.10And you shall hallow the fiftieth year and you shall proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you: you shall return, every one of you, to your property and every one of you to your family.11That fiftieth year shall be a jubilee for you: you shall not sow, or reap the aftergrowth, or harvest the unpruned vines.12For it is a jubilee; it shall be holy to you: you shall eat only what the field itself produces.13In this year of jubilee you shall return, every one of you, to your property.14When you make a sale to your neighbor or buy from your neighbor, you shall not cheat one another.15When you buy from your neighbor, you shall pay only for the number of years since the jubilee; the seller shall charge you only for the remaining crop years.16If the years are more, you shall increase the price, and if the years are fewer, you shall diminish the price; for it is a certain number of harvests that are being sold to you.17You shall not cheat one another, but you shall fear your God; for I am the Lord your God.18You shall observe my statutes and faithfully keep my ordinances, so that you may live on the land securely.19The land will yield its fruit, and you will eat your fill and live on it securely.20Should you ask, What shall we eat in the seventh year, if we may not sow or gather in our crop?21I will order my blessing for you in the sixth year, so that it will yield a crop for three years.22When you sow in the eighth year, you will be eating from the old crop; until the ninth year, when its produce comes in, you shall eat the old.23The land shall not be sold in perpetuity, for the land is mine; with me you are but aliens and tenants.24Throughout the land that you hold, you shall provide for the redemption of the land.25If anyone of your kin falls into difficulty and sells a piece of property, then the next of kin shall come and redeem what the relative has sold.26If the person has no one to redeem it, but then prospers and finds sufficient means to do so,27the years since its sale shall be computed and the difference shall be refunded to the person to whom it was sold, and the property shall be returned.28But if there is not sufficient means to recover it, what was sold shall remain with the purchaser until the year of jubilee; in the jubilee it shall be released, and the property shall be returned.29If anyone sells a dwelling house in a walled city, it may be redeemed until a year has elapsed since its sale; the right of redemption shall be one year.30If it is not redeemed before a full year has elapsed, a house that is in a walled city shall pass in perpetuity to the purchaser, throughout the generations; it shall not be released in the jubilee.31But houses in villages that have no walls around them shall be classed as open country; they may be redeemed, and they shall be released in the jubilee.32As for the cities of the Levites, the Levites shall forever have the right of redemption of the houses in the cities belonging to them.33Such property as may be redeemed from the Levites—houses sold in a city belonging to them—shall be released in the jubilee; because the houses in the cities of the Levites are their possession among the people of Israel.34But the open land around their cities may not be sold; for that is their possession for all time.35If any of your kin fall into difficulty and become dependent on you, you shall support them; they shall live with you as though resident aliens.36Do not take interest in advance or otherwise make a profit from them, but fear your God; let them live with you.37You shall not lend them your money at interest taken in advance, or provide them food at a profit.38I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, to give you the land of Canaan, to be your God.39If any who are dependent on you become so impoverished that they sell themselves to you, you shall not make them serve as slaves.40They shall remain with you as hired or bound laborers. They shall serve with you until the year of the jubilee.41Then they and their children with them shall be free from your authority; they shall go back to their own family and return to their ancestral property.42For they are my servants, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt; they shall not be sold as slaves are sold.43You shall not rule over them with harshness, but shall fear your God.44As for the male and female slaves whom you may have, it is from the nations around you that you may acquire male and female slaves.45You may also acquire them from among the aliens residing with you, and from their families that are with you, who have been born in your land; and they may be your property.46You may keep them as a possession for your children after you, for them to inherit as property. These you may treat as slaves, but as for your fellow Israelites, no one shall rule over the other with harshness.47If resident aliens among you prosper, and if any of your kin fall into difficulty with one of them and sell themselves to an alien, or to a branch of the alien's family,48after they have sold themselves they shall have the right of redemption; one of their brothers may redeem them,49or their uncle or their uncle's son may redeem them, or anyone of their family who is of their own flesh may redeem them; or if they prosper they may redeem themselves.50They shall compute with the purchaser the total from the year when they sold themselves to the alien until the jubilee year; the price of the sale shall be applied to the number of years: the time they were with the owner shall be rated as the time of a hired laborer.51If many years remain, they shall pay for their redemption in proportion to the purchase price;52and if few years remain until the jubilee year, they shall compute thus: according to the years involved they shall make payment for their redemption.53As a laborer hired by the year they shall be under the alien's authority, who shall not, however, rule with harshness over them in your sight.54And if they have not been redeemed in any of these ways, they and their children with them shall go free in the jubilee year.55For to me the people of Israel are servants; they are my servants whom I brought out from the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.Chapter 26Rewards for Obedience
1You shall make for yourselves no idols and erect no carved images or pillars, and you shall not place figured stones in your land, to worship at them; for I am the Lord your God.2You shall keep my sabbaths and reverence my sanctuary: I am the Lord.3If you follow my statutes and keep my commandments and observe them faithfully,4I will give you your rains in their season, and the land shall yield its produce, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit.5Your threshing shall overtake the vintage, and the vintage shall overtake the sowing; you shall eat your bread to the full, and live securely in your land.6And I will grant peace in the land, and you shall lie down, and no one shall make you afraid; I will remove dangerous animals from the land, and no sword shall go through your land.7You shall give chase to your enemies, and they shall fall before you by the sword.8Five of you shall give chase to a hundred, and a hundred of you shall give chase to ten thousand; your enemies shall fall before you by the sword.9I will look with favor upon you and make you fruitful and multiply you; and I will maintain my covenant with you.10You shall eat old grain long stored, and you shall have to clear out the old to make way for the new.11I will place my dwelling in your midst, and I shall not abhor you.12And I will walk among you, and will be your God, and you shall be my people.13I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be their slaves no more; I have broken the bars of your yoke and made you walk erect.Penalties for Disobedience
14But if you will not obey me, and do not observe all these commandments,15if you spurn my statutes, and abhor my ordinances, so that you will not observe all my commandments, and you break my covenant,16I in turn will do this to you: I will bring terror on you; consumption and fever that waste the eyes and cause life to pine away. You shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it.17I will set my face against you, and you shall be struck down by your enemies; your foes shall rule over you, and you shall flee though no one pursues you.18And if in spite of this you will not obey me, I will continue to punish you sevenfold for your sins.19I will break your proud glory, and I will make your sky like iron and your earth like copper.20Your strength shall be spent to no purpose: your land shall not yield its produce, and the trees of the land shall not yield their fruit.21If you continue hostile to me, and will not obey me, I will continue to plague you sevenfold for your sins.22I will let loose wild animals against you, and they shall bereave you of your children and destroy your livestock; they shall make you few in number, and your roads shall be deserted.23If in spite of these punishments you have not turned back to me, but continue hostile to me,24then I too will continue hostile to you: I myself will strike you sevenfold for your sins.25I will bring the sword against you, executing vengeance for the covenant; and if you withdraw within your cities, I will send pestilence among you, and you shall be delivered into enemy hands.26When I break your staff of bread, ten women shall bake your bread in a single oven, and they shall dole out your bread by weight; and though you eat, you shall not be satisfied.27But if, despite this, you disobey me, and continue hostile to me,28I will continue hostile to you in fury; I in turn will punish you myself sevenfold for your sins.29You shall eat the flesh of your sons, and you shall eat the flesh of your daughters.30I will destroy your high places and cut down your incense altars; I will heap your carcasses on the carcasses of your idols. I will abhor you.31I will lay your cities waste, will make your sanctuaries desolate, and I will not smell your pleasing odors.32I will devastate the land, so that your enemies who come to settle in it shall be appalled at it.33And you I will scatter among the nations, and I will unsheathe the sword against you; your land shall be a desolation, and your cities a waste.34Then the land shall enjoy its sabbath years as long as it lies desolate, while you are in the land of your enemies; then the land shall rest, and enjoy its sabbath years.35As long as it lies desolate, it shall have the rest it did not have on your sabbaths when you were living on it.36And as for those of you who survive, I will send faintness into their hearts in the lands of their enemies; the sound of a driven leaf shall put them to flight, and they shall flee as one flees from the sword, and they shall fall though no one pursues.37They shall stumble over one another, as if to escape a sword, though no one pursues; and you shall have no power to stand against your enemies.38You shall perish among the nations, and the land of your enemies shall devour you.39And those of you who survive shall languish in the land of your enemies because of their iniquities; also they shall languish because of the iniquities of their ancestors.40But if they confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their ancestors, in that they committed treachery against me and, moreover, that they continued hostile to me—41so that I, in turn, continued hostile to them and brought them into the land of their enemies; if then their uncircumcised heart is humbled and they make amends for their iniquity,42then will I remember my covenant with Jacob; I will remember also my covenant with Isaac and also my covenant with Abraham, and I will remember the land.43For the land shall be deserted by them, and enjoy its sabbath years by lying desolate without them, while they shall make amends for their iniquity, because they dared to spurn my ordinances, and they abhorred my statutes.44Yet for all that, when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not spurn them, or abhor them so as to destroy them utterly and break my covenant with them; for I am the Lord their God;45but I will remember in their favor the covenant with their ancestors whom I brought out of the land of Egypt in the sight of the nations, to be their God: I am the Lord.46These are the statutes and ordinances and laws that the Lord established between himself and the people of Israel on Mount Sinai through Moses.